Gravel-voiced talk-show host Larry King has become one of the highest-paid personalities on TV with the signing of a new, multiyear contract with CNN worth an estimated $56 million plus perks, Post celebrity columnist Liz Smith has learned.

Citing unnamed sources, Smith reports that King’s contract, signed yesterday, binds the suspender-sporting talkmeister to CNN for four more years at an annual salary of $14 million.

Among the perks the 68-year-old King won for staying at the AOL Time Warner-owned network are the use of a private plane for commuting between Washington, New York and Los Angeles, where his prime-time talk show originates. He will also get a production deal under which he’ll develop shows for CNN.

His pay package, a 100 percent increase from the $7 million he reportedly earned under his last contract, puts King on a par with “Today” co-host Katie Couric.

Her record-setting annual salary comes to roughly the same amount, $13 million to $14 million, under the multiyear contract worth $65 million that she signed last month with NBC.

CNN would not comment on the signing of its highest-rated prime-time star, although the deal is expected to be announced tomorrow by CNN officials in Pasadena, Calif., where reporters and TV critics are gathered for the winter TV press tour.

The blockbuster contract, coming on the heels of the Couric deal, is sure to drive the value of TV news talent even higher as the competition, particularly on cable, heats up.

King reportedly had been wooed by both NBC, which owns the MSNBC news channel, and Fox News Channel, whose parent company, News Corp., also owns The Post.